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James Kao- Artist in Residence - VIEW BLOG ENTRIES BELOW
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James Kao: White Mountain National Forest Artist in Residence
 Chicago painter James Kao has been selected as the first White Mountain National Forest (WMNF) Artist in Residence. During his tenure, August 1-23, he will be staying at Mead Base in Center Sandwich, where he will create new work inspired by the surrounding forest. During his residency Kao will also lead several workshops and share his ideas on the ways in which art can help people relate to forests in general and to the WMNF in particular.
Kao is an abstract painter who has had recent one-person exhibitions at China Projects (San Francisco, CA) and Toomey Tourell Fine Art (San Francisco, CA). He received his BA in Philosophy from the University of Chicago and an MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where he now teaches in the Painting and Drawing Department. Learn more at www.jameskao.org.
The Artist-in-Residence (AIR) program is a partnership of the WMNF and the Arts Alliance of Northern New Hampshire, and is being introduced this year in celebration of the Weeks Act Centennial. The Weeks Act, a milestone in American conservation history, enabled the federal government to purchase land in the eastern US, allowing cut and burned-over lands to become publicly owned national forests, thus leading to the creation of the WMNF and more than 40 other national forests.
According to Rebecca Oreskes, Public Services Staff Officer for WMNF, "The AIR program aims to help people understand the connections between public lands, how we use natural resources and our emotional ties to beauty, nature and self-expression. We're delighted to be working with the Arts Alliance and honored to have James Kao as our first artist."
Kao was drawn to the program by the opportunity to live near the mountains and be inspired by them. "Hokusai envisioned thirty-six views of Mount Fuji. Cezanne gazed at Mont Sainte-Victoire with fresh energy over sixty times," he says. "I, too, am looking for an earthly motif that ranges into the heavens. I am dreaming of white mountains cast in numberless shades of summer green."
The residency offers a three-week period in which Kao will have time to work on his art in an environment very different from that of his urban life. He will also offer a weekly public session during which visitors can learn more about — and participate in — the artistic process, and be encouraged to think about the connection between art, the forest and conservation. More information on these programs will be available in upcoming weeks. Kao will also donate one piece of work to the WMNF.
"This is a new venture for the White Mountain National Forest," says Forest Supervisor Tom Wagner. "The Arts Alliance of Northern New Hampshire has been a wonderful partner in celebrating the Weeks Act Centennial and we're excited to create this opportunity for both artists and visitors to the national forest."
"We were amazed by the number of AIR applicants we had from around the country, and by the variety and quality of their work," says Frumie Selchen, Executive Director of the Arts Alliance. "We definitely hope this program can continue."
Additional details of AIR programs will be posted here. For more information about the Artist in Residence program, contact the Arts Alliance at (603) 323-7302 or info@annhh.org.
"Painting Shifts": Public Programs Presented by James Kao
James Kao will offer "Painting Shifts," a slide presentation about his work and discussion of the major influences on the development of his artistic practice on Friday, August 19th at 4 pm, at Mead Base on Diamond Ledge Road. He will also present "Painting Shifts" on Sunday, August 21st at 4:30pm at The Branch: An Extension of the Jeanne Limmer Dance Center, Eastern Slope Plaza Reporter Court, North Conway as part of the weekend's 8 Days of Weeks Mount Washington Valley programming. The Sunday program will be followed by an artist gathering -- all interested artists are invited to attend this informal program and share some of their work.
"Habitations": An Exhibit at the Patricia Carega Gallery in Sandwich
The opening has been rescheduled for Saturday, August 27, from 5 to 7 pm because of hurricane forecasts!
"Habitations," new work by James Kao, the White Mountain National Forest's first artist in residence, will be on exhibit August 27 through September 15 at the Patricia Ladd Carega Gallery, 69 Maple St., Center Sandwich. The opening reception will take place Saturday, August 27, from 5 to 7 pm.
Kao, a Chicago painter who teaches at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, has been in residence at Mead Base in Center Sandwich throughout August, with a mission to create new work inspired by the forest. The Artist in Residence program is a partnership of the WMNF and the Arts Alliance A percentage of the proceeds from the exhibit will benefit the AIR program, the Arts Alliance, and the Friends of Mead Base Conservation Center.
The link for the gallery is www.patricialaddcarega.com
For additional information about the exhibit, call the gallery at 284-7728.
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Day 2: Whip-Poor-Will
I’ve set up my living space in the Meade Conservation Center, and my canvasses are sized, primed, and grounded.
This morning I began a small drawing. This afternoon, a wasp stung me on the top of my head.
Tonight, Kathy, who is also staying at Meade Base took me out on a bird counting expedition. We made our way through the thicket in Ossipee, looked for a Whip-Poor-Will nest, and listened for their mnemonic calls. We foraged on wild blueberries and raspberries through the night. On our way back to Meade Base, we stared down a large Bard Owl for several minutes before he dropped a mute and took flight . . .
 
Day 8: Moose!
I expected to see a wide variety of new trees in New Hampshire before I arrived—White pines are truly magnificent. Somehow, I had forgotten about all the animals that live the forest. So far, I have seen Barred Owls, a woodchuck, chipmunks, and wild turkeys. This morning a spied a black bear, and this afternoon, a large moose crossed my path! The moose was large, gentle, and carried a graceful walk.
I’m starting to hit my stride in the studio. A first view of Squam Lake, another drawing, and a start to another landscape painting . . .
  
Day 14: Striped Maples and more . . .
I’ve been struck by the grandeur of all the white pines in the area, but two days ago I learned to identify the Striped Maple Tree. It is a slender tree, but it’s trunk is sturdy enough to serve as a solid hand guide when hiking steep trails in White Mountain National Forests. The Striped Maple has a thin layer of bark with cool, dark green, vertical stripes. They remind me of the Barred Owl’s vertical bars. In the studio, the notion of vertical stripes has given me a solution to describe my observationally invented tree forms—vertical stripes, of course! A trail worker found and presented me with an artist’s conch—a shelf mushroom whose bottom side may be inscribed with a sharp tool to create a permanent mark. It was difficult drawing into my artist’s conch, as I trembled at it’s quiet death beneath my hands. I am told they are not in danger, however.
Death and life go hand in hand in the forest. David White, a local architect, painted a visceral picture of an owl snatching a rabbit at night. The death shriek of the captured rabbit is loud and unforgettable. I have yet to hear this sound, but I am haunted by its specter as rabbit forms continue to populate many of my works. Coyotes cackle at night in celebration of a new kill and to call their fellows to feast.
I hiked up to Mount Israel today, wondered about the change in tree species as I neared the summit. Atop Mount Israel, I saw low growing, hardy conifers that yield tiny jewels for pine cones. The view of Squam Lake is map-like. I tweaked my right knee a bit on the way down, and a chilly ice pack is my new friend.
   
Day 23: Trees Fall
I heard a tree fall earlier in the week. Yes, trees really do fall in the forest, and they make a loud crack and booming thud as they come to the ground.
Today, during my walk in the forest behind Mead Base, I again spied the hawk that lives nearby, gently patted the carpets of lush moss, and kept my eye on the red and yellow tree blazes. I studied the soaring hemlock trees, gawked at the majestic white pines, and chuckled at the “goose foot” leaves of the striped maple. Today’s walk, however, was much different than previous walks because I began to notice all the dying, dead, and decaying trees. Looking around the forest floor, fallen trees are abundant, and looking up, I see that many standing trees are actually dead. I have always been aware of lichens and shelf mushrooms growing on tree trunks. Today, I realized they grow primarily on the trunks of dead trees. I began a search for the Artist’s Conch. I located several small conchs—they are still in the forest—and then realized they are very particular about the trees they grow upon. They seem to favor the trunks or stumps of dead Birch trees. I thought of the artist easel, made in France, that I brought here from Chicago. It is made of oiled birch. As I sat down to make a drawing, I sharpened a wooden pencil. My drawing paper, too, is of the trees.
I spied a freshly fallen tree, and I wondered how much time would pass before the first mushroom would sprout from its corpse.
Last Blog Update
On my way down from Rattlesnake Hill, Victor Haughton snapped and later emailed this photo.
I got to know so many people in New Hampshire, and each one of them has a dear place in my heart. Even those I met in passing were kind and generous. New Hampshire is wild, and it is special; and every person I came to know in the Granite State knew enough to become its steward.
Just before I left, the remnants of hurricane Irene passed through. I was excited to see the might of nature. I recalled the tales of JMW Turner lashing himself to a ship’s mast in the heart of a storm so could “know” Nature before he painted those stormy seascapes. I also held a small fear of fallen trees blocking my exit on my way to the Manchester airport. The trailworkers chuckled, “We have axes.” I smiled and at their machismo, and then realized they really were prepared to move fallen trees with axes and handsaws. I spoke to others living near Mead Base. “Don’t worry,” they added, “We have chainsaws, too.” Secretly, I had hoped that a tree would fall during this storm so that I could see this community of trailworkers and stewards cut and move a tree. At the end, we received much rain, and no trees fell.
Again, I think about a tree’s end. They may stand and decay in the forest, with the aid of many animals, bugs, and mushrooms. The artist’s conch plays its role too. They may be girdled by the forest service to make new homes for animals. They fall in a storm. They may be cut by a logger. Dead trees disintegrate back into the forest, or they find an afterlife. I have always fancied the permanence of “solid wood” furniture. I think of the sawdust in layers of compost, and I think of sawdust keeping layers of ice cool in an icehouse. There is so much more . . .
I have known the Hickory trees in Chicago for many years now, and I have looked for and spotted them in almost every city I’ve visited—New York, Houston, New Orleans, San Francisco, Boston, and more. In my time in New Hampshire, I failed to spy a single Hickory tree. There are Hickory trees all over Chicago and in my neighborhood as well, but I’ve failed to notice a single one upon my return. Rather, my eyes and senses have been turned upon all the various maple trees in the area. I never knew we had so many different types of Maple trees. Yesterday, I spotted an aging Black Sugar Maple. It reminded me instantly of the elderly Sugar Maple that stands before Mead Base. They both have broad trunks and have branched out in a similarly wide fashion. More than their size, it is their thinning canopies that give their age away. New Hampshire and its trees are in my mind. I am especially missing the majesty of all the White Pines.
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